MP cattle menace: Amid rising menace of stray cattle on the roads and farmlands, the Madhya Pradesh government has recently proposed tagging close to 40 lakh abandoned cattle with saffron-coloured identification tags. The proposal is aimed at distinguishing stray cattle from domesticated animals, paving the way for the authorities to identify and manage them more effectively. Notably, the proposal has received in-principle approval from the Union Government.

Additional CS sheds light on initiative

Umakant Umrao, Additional Chief Secretary of MP’s Animal Husbandry Department, said that the state government had appealed to the Centre for a colour-based tagging system, after authorities faced hurdles in identifying stray animals.

At present, all cattle are marked with yellow tags, posing a challenge before the authorities to differentiate between livestock and abandoned animals. Under the proposed system, a unique 12-digit identification number will be assigned to each stray cow under the Bharat Pashudhan project, which operates as part of the National Digital Livestock Mission. According to officials, the colour-coded tags will facilitate the municipal corporation teams and cattle-catching squads to visually identify stray cattle without scanning devices.

Accidents due to stray cattle rise in MP

The move follows a spike in road accidents due to stray cattle in MP. According to the data presented in the MP legislative assembly, the state saw 237 road accidents linked to stray cattle over the past two years, resulting in 94 deaths and 133 injuries. Additionally, farmers in several districts of the state also reported substantial crop damage caused by roaming cattle, particularly during the Kharif season, owing to which many of them had to guard their fields overnight. 

4.5L cattle lodged in Gaushalas

Meanwhile, as many as 4.5 lakh cattle of the state have already been lodged under Gaushalas (cow shelters) under the state’s Mukhyamantri Gauseva Yojana, which is supported by local bodies and NGOs. The state has allocated Rs 296.20 crore in the 2025-26 budget for the shelters’ maintenance. 

Decline in milk output triggers abandoning of cattle

Officials said that a key factor behind the crisis is low cattle productivity. As per estimates by the livestock census, nearly 70% of cows in MP belong to low-yield breeds, producing less than half a litre of milk per day. Once their milk output dips, they are abandoned. It is noteworthy that the state government is promoting breed improvement programmes through schemes like Ksheerdhara Gram Yojana, which targets 5,000 villages. The authorities are also exploring digital monitoring through the Pashudhan app to store ownership and breed information.